The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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A Veteran's Christmas
TV Movie · Family · Drama · 2018
Captain Grace Garland, a decorated U.S. veteran, returns home after two tours of Search and Rescue in Afghanistan. After being separated from her beloved K9 partner, Grace must rediscover the magic of Christmas. When she finds herself stranded in the town of River’s Crossing a couple weeks before Christmas, the local judge, Joe Peterson, offers her a place to stay on his property and takes it upon himself to show Grace everything she has been missing; Christmas, family, community, and love.
Movie details
A Veteran's Christmas
2018 TV Movie · Family · Drama 1h 30m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
Captain Grace Garland, a decorated U.S. veteran, returns home after two tours of Search and Rescue in Afghanistan. After being separated from her beloved K9 partner, Grace must rediscover the magic of Christmas. When she finds herself stranded in the town of River’s Crossing a couple weeks before Christmas, the local judge, Joe Peterson, offers her a place to stay on his property and takes it upon himself to show Grace everything she has been missing; Christmas, family, community, and love.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over A Veteran's Christmas?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Hoovey
Family · 2015
The true and inspiring story of the Elliott family, who refused to surrender, instead turning to one another and their faith in the worst of circumstances, to rebuild their lives, their boy, and their dreams... together. Step by grueling step, with faith, love, and the tireless work of a mother and father to save their family, their farm, their dream, Hoovey learns to walk again. To read again. To dribble and shoot a basketball again. And yes, to dream again himself. Then stepping out in his faith, back onto the hard court, to live that dream of playing this game once more...
An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars
Drama · 2012
A young girl struggles to maintain her school grades while competing as a gymnast.
Twitches Too
Drama · 2007
Reunited witch twins Camryn and Alex adjust to their new life as supernatural beings while at the same time trying to maintain a normal existence in this sequel to the magical Disney Channel original movie Twitches. But they soon find themselves going head to head with the forces of darkness that threaten to destroy their world. Luckily, their birth mother, the powerful Miranda, is on hand to help out.
The Girl Who Believes in Miracles
Family · 2021
When Sara hears a preacher say faith can move mountains, she starts praying. Suddenly people in her town are mysteriously healed! But fame soon takes its toll – can Sara’s family save her before it’s too late?
The Good Witch
Family · 2008
A mysterious woman comes in to town and inhabits the local haunted mansion, making everyone wonder if she's a witch or "The Grey Lady".
The Audrey Hepburn Story
Drama · 2000
The film spans from Hepburn's early childhood to the 1950s which details her life as a Dutch ballerina, coming to grips with her parents' divorce, and enduring life in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II. She then settles in the U.S. where she succeeds in making it big as a movie actress, in such movies as Breakfast at Tiffany's.
A Christmas Carol
Animation · 1997
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
My Dinner with Hervé
Drama · 2018
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
TalhotBlond
Drama · 2012
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
It's a Wonderful Life
Drama · 1946
George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Mark Jean
Written by
Mark Jean
Eloise Mumford
Grace Garland
Sean Faris
Joe Peterson
Miriam McDonald
Marnie Radcliffe
Jacob Blair
Travis
Richard Waugh
Uncle Roy
Amanda Lisman
Katie
Jenna Weir
Addison
Court is in session
Put A Veteran's Christmas on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.